Activists exult in state’s ban of fracking
Longtime anti-fracking activists in the northwest Bronx are declaring victory after Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s announcement that New York will ban hydraulic fracturing.
Marble Hill resident Clare Donohue, program director of the Sane Energy Project and member of Bronx Climate Justice North (BCJN), called the decision a historic one.
“We’re grateful to everyone who’s joined in this fight over the many years,” she said. “This may not have happened without that level of citizen participation.”
Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, is the process of drilling and injecting liquid into underground shale to break rock and release natural gas and oil.
Activists have long been opposed to the process, citing dangers to both the environment and human health.
Health concerns associated with fracking moved Mr. Cuomo’s decision to announce the ban on Dec. 17.
In a 184-page report conducted by the New York State Department of Health, Commissioner Howard Zucker and his research team noted that methane emissions from drilling in Texas and Pennsylvania had been linked to respiratory health issues.
The report confirmed activists’ concerns about fracking contaminating drinking water, as one study found that the methane could contaminate wells. It also cited an increase in symptoms like nosebleeds, abdominal pain, nausea and congenital heart conditions in people living near fracking sites.
The ban puts the New York portion of the Marcellus Shale, a formation spanning the ground under New York, Pennsylvania and several nearby states, off limits, despite the view pro-fracking advocates have of the shale as a wealth of natural gas and economic promise.
“Until the science provides sufficient information to determine the level of risk to public health from [hydraulic fracturing] to all New Yorkers and whether the risks can be adequately managed, DOH recommends that HVHF should not proceed in NYS,” Dr. Zucker wrote to Department of Environmental Conservation Comissioner Joseph Martens.
